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This is a collaborative post.
Although, I’m currently working form home, I used to work in hotels and other travel companies and being on the green board of each workplace was a priority for me. If you’re passionate about something, you’ll find yourself to bring it with you everywhere you go. Being green means exactly this: it’s not only about doing your best, but to inspire others to do it too and look after the environment. Offices are hard nuts of course because your colleagues can have very different mindsets. However, changes can be done and everyone will be happy in the end, because – surprise! – being environmentally friendly, often also means saving money. So if you’re a company owner or a director or just simply care about the environment read my tips.
My advice is, start focusing on these areas:
1 Paper usage
Better to say maybe: not using paper. Going paperless is a huge effort to reduce their impact on the environment. According to a recent survey, storing your work digitally is the way forward towards making your office greener. (According to https://www.seareach.co.uk/ survey, it’t the most important element of a green office, with 20%)
Investing in a computer for a paperless office has been an investment worth making. With the price of paper being so high, it is not uncommon to find yourself wasting sheets and sheets of paper. It also makes you more productive and saves you time because you won’t need to spend so much time on mundane tasks like photocopying or printing documents, scanning images, or putting things into PDF files.
2 Recycling bins
Having recycling bins sorted for your office is also very important – they also should be clearly labelled.
3 Solar panels
Installing solar panels for businesses. Many companies think that it’s going to cost too much to install, that it isn’t reliable and that it’s difficult to maintain. The truth is that solar panels have dropped 80% in price since 2008 and because solar panels do not have moving parts, maintenance is minimal.
4 LED bulbs
This is a no brainer – it has been one of the most common changes in our homes, so it should be in the office.
5 Green heating
Using renewable and low-energy technologies are all classified as green heating. Switching to a green renewable electricity supplier is one of the quickest and easiest ways to reduce your home or business CO2 emissions.
6 Reusable bottles
Many offices have water fountains installed already, all we need to do is, to get rid of the plastic cups! It is a habit which we can easily change and by reducing the single plastic waste we do an awful lot for the environment and marine life.
7 Cycle to work
Installing safe and covered bike storage can hopefully encourage the employees who live near enough to take up cycling. It’s not only good for the environment but a decent exercise too, thus keeping the co-workers fit!
8 Electric car charging points
One of the most common excuses of investing into an electric car in the UK is the lack of the charging stations. It is actually a big factor, if someone considers a new, electric car, they might want to drive it. Installing charging points at the office building will help them to make the switch.
9 Motion sensitive lights
Investing in these doesn’t cost the Earth, but they definitely save a lot of energy and money! Motion sensors can be a good way to keep lights turned off when they’re not needed.
10 Plants
Studies have shown that simply adding some greenery in the form of indoor plants can have major positive benefits for employees and their organisations. The cleaner air, reduced sicknesses, reduces stress level and increased productivity is just some of these benefits.
